Do you remember there's a football team in Philadelphia?
You know who you are. You the fans.
I know I'm guilty of it as well because I nearly forgot we had a football team in the midst of the Phillies' season, the Flyers' draft, and the Sixers' upcoming draft on Thursday night.
You know it's a slow news summer for the Eagles when the biggest story of late involves a player who isn't even on the team anymore-and one who played like he wasn't part of the team since 2004. That would be Jevon Kearse of course who did his best Cedric Benson impersonation by getting nailed for a DUI over the weekend.
So, what sort of team are the Eagles? Are they a contender or a pretender? Right now I look at them as an 11-5 team, possibly 12-4.
I know, I must be smoking PCP and doing cat tranquilizers right? Well for all of you naysayers who keep hating on this team because of The Penguin a.k.a Joe Banner's shady ways, Andy Reid's arrogance, and their inability (or refusal) to land a coveted wide receiver here are some reasons why this team will win the division this year.
#1-Defensive improvements. I'm not just talking about the acquisition of Asante Samuel in free agency. Their defensive tackles Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson played together last year for the first time together on a full-time basis. And, already they were seen by football people as one of the best tandems in the NFC. They have a year under their belt.
The Kearse(Curse) is gone. Not only did he waste a roster spot, but he sucked the life out of this team whenever he was on the field. Trent Cole has emerged as one of the top 4 defensive ends in the NFC and the addition of Chris Clemons from Oakland gives them a pair of speed rushers, much like Justin Tuck on the Giants. The Eagles are building their team around speed much like the Tampa Bay Bucs. And, if they can get anything out of Victor Abiamiri (last year's 2nd round pick) then it's gravy.
Added to that, the linebacking corps will receive a huge boost from Stewart Bradley who had the best debut for a rookie of any linebacker since that guy named Jeremiah Trotter. He is a turnover machine waiting to happen. Chris Gokong also has another year of experience under his belt and will be used by Jim Johnson in various ways to disrupt opposing teams' quarterbacks. Omar Gaither too has another year of experience and rounds out a strong, young linebacking corps. For the first time in about 5 years we can call this a linebacking corps and not a linebacking CORPSE.
Last, but not least the defensive backfield gets a huge upgrade with Samuel who is another turnover machine. Brian Dawkins has been working out all offseason (unlike last year when he missed most of the offseason workouts because of family issues) and is poised to come back with a vengeance. Sheldon Brown, Quintin Mikell, and that guy named Lito Sheppard round out the strongest defensive backfield in the NFC.
The defense is going to be the difference this year for the Eagles. They are built around speed and they have turnovers specialists in there.
Let's not forget about the boost the special teams will receive from the addition of DeSean Jackson. And, look for Lorenzo Booker to assume kick return duties as well.
And, oh yeah Donovan McNabb doesn't have a bum knee either. I was a little concerned about that shoulder, but the word is, it's nothing, but you always have to wonder why the Eagles are so secretive about injuries.
When you have a defense assembled in this mold with young, speedy playmakers, it's a recipe for playoff success. Does this make them a Super Bowl contender? I'm not prepared to say that yet, but they'll be a hell of a lot better than they were last year.
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